LGBTQIA+ UK News Round-Up: January 2024

After a month that felt more like 31 years than 31 days, but which also simultaneously sped by as quickly as storm Aisha wreaking havoc on the North of England, it’s suddenly the start of February - and LGBT History Month 2024 .

However, before we get carried away by the fact the days are thankfully getting longer (if not a tiny bit warmer), we’re first looking back at some of the queer things that happened in January 2024. Because after all, is it really news that no one managed to stick to their New Year’s Resolution past January 12th?

The second series of The Traitors was exactly what we needed to get through a long and cold January. Despite everyone’s doubts about how this series could possibly beat the show’s first season, it seems we all should have had a lot more faith in Queen Claud. Will we ever be able to move on from the shocking murder of Diane through a damning glass of fizzy Rosé? What about the shortest redemption arc in history as Ross tried (but spectacularly failed) to avenge his mother’s death? Do we even need to mention that iconic funeral scene led by Claudia with the contestants walking to their deaths?

On top of some great camp telly, this series also blessed us with some unforgettable LGBTQIA+ players. The backstabbing exile of recruited traitor Miles felt like a stab in the heart, while Evie suddenly revealing that she wanted to snag the prize fund to buy a bigger home for her wife and their dogs made us wish for Harry’s downfall even more. All that’s left to say is, “Am I or amnt I?”

News that England’s health watchdog has approved a private hormone clinic for trans youth was greatly welcomed this month, especially after it was announced that the NHS gender-identity service will shut down in March. While the government has promised replacement services will open sometime this spring, the approval of The Gender Plus Hormone Clinic is a great step in helping trans kids in England and Wales access prescriptions for hormonal treatment.

Trans youth currently face a five-year waitlist for an NHS first appointment. The opening of a new hormone clinic, while not publically funded, will help young people get both medical and emotional support through their transition - and be able to ask a team of trained professionals any hormone-related questions while receiving treatment.

VICE News spoke to several trans children in the UK who admitted they had stopped going to school as a result of transphobia and violence within classrooms and on the playground. Following abuse from both students and teachers, all 15 of the children the news publication spoke to said they withdrew themselves from UK secondary school; the majority of them are now being homeschooled, however, some have not received any formal education since.

The results from this study are no doubt related to the lack of governmental support for trans school kids, highlighted by the government’s recently published guidance for schools on trans pupils. The damaging guidance gave teachers and school staff permission to decline a trans pupil’s request to use alternative pronouns, as well as stating that gender is a “contested belief.” 

In what is quite possibly the best sentence I’ve written yet in 2024, a reading-based queer and trans artist collective took over London’s Vagina Museum with an exhibition to highlight the beauty of trans bodies - and start important conversations surrounding trans health.

The genius behind this exhibition, Double Okay , are paving the way for trans inclusivity in spaces that talk about bodies and health. Co-founder, Ollie Musson, described the goal behind Double Okay’s takeover of the Vagina Museum as making sure “institutions and museums are working to not only be trans-inclusive, but to centre and uplift trans voices.”

After leaving an LGBTQIA+ venue in Nottingham following a night out with friends, Lewis North was attacked walking through a shopping centre (TW: graphic imagery) by a man who had been following him home. He was punched, spat at and bitten by his attacker who yelled homophobic abuse and threatened to kill him. Lewis was able to call emergency services and his friends by pressing the SOS alert on his phone.

Last year, Stonewall reported that hate crimes based on sexual orientation are up 112% in the past five years, while the UK government continues without a central strategy or plan to combat these crimes since the last one expired in 2020.

With Pride season high up on our list of queer things to look forward to in 2024 , the news that Sophie Ellis-Bexter was set to headline Poole’s first Pride event made many even more impatient for summer to arrive. The event is set to take place at Poole’s Lighthouse Arts Centre on 8 June and will be followed by a week-long film festival - whether or not they’re showing Saltburn is still undetermined.

And as if that weren’t enough, the town will also temporarily become home to a month-long exhibition honouring gay activist John Chesterman. Aptly named 'We Didn’t Know If It Was a Revolution or a Party,’ exhibition attendees can learn about the life and work of the campaigner and activist who was a big part of the formation of the Gay Liberation Front in 1970.

French President Emmanuel Macron appointed 34-year-old Education Minister Gabriel Attal as his new prime minister at the start of the month. Attal will replace Elisabeth Borne, the previous holder of the French prime ministerial title and the second woman to hold the role in the country. As well as being the youngest prime minister yet, Attal is also openly gay - his previous partner Stéphane Sejourné, also works for the French government as the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

The landmark event was held in Brazil’s capital, Brasília to mark twenty years of Trans Visibility in the country. As one of the most dangerous places in the world to be trans or LGBTQIA+, this march represented the voices fighting for the rights of trans folks living in a country with the largest number of trans people killed around the world.

Organisers delivered a giant Trans Pride flag signed by thousands of people standing in solidarity with Brazil’s trans community to Congresswomen Erika Hilton and Duda Salabert , two trans federal deputies who have recently been elected to the National Congress of Brazil.